“Putin's Secret Nuclear Facilities”: Germany Argues Over Cooperation with Rosatom

The French atomic concern Framatome, despite criticism, does not abandon its plans to produce fuel elements in Germany under the license of Rosatom. There is no permission for this, but the French are not sitting idly by.

On November 20, 2024, the town of Lingen in the northwest of Germany will turn into a stage for a large performance with geopolitical implications. Public hearings will be held here regarding the plans of the French state atomic concern Framatome to open a workshop for the production of fuel assemblies under the license of “TVEL” – the “daughter” of the Russian “Rosatom” – at one of its German plants. Opponents of this French-German project, primarily environmental non-governmental organizations and activists of the anti-nuclear movement, filed more than 11,000 objections in preparation for the hearings.

“An instrument of the Kremlin”?

“Rosatom,” as all its activities demonstrate, is not an ordinary company engaged in business. This state concern is used by the Russian authorities in its geopolitical interests. It is a tool of the Kremlin,” Armin Simon, a representative of the anti-nuclear public organization Ausgestrahlt, explained in an interview with DW, one of the key arguments against the project. In his opinion, cooperation with Russian state structures in such a sensitive area as nuclear energy poses too high security risks for Germany.

“The production of fuel assemblies in cooperation with the Russians opens up the Kremlin's opportunities for espionage and sabotage. In this way, the Kremlin will establish working relationships and gain access to information,” warns Zimon. Instead, Framatome says it is open to any verification and, referring to the conclusions of its experts, denies security risks in cooperation with the Russians. “All hypothetical risk scenarios regarding possible manipulation and espionage at the Advanced Nuclear Fuels GmbH (ANF) plant in Lingen have no basis, as TVEL employees will not have access to the plant either now or in the future,” said a Framatome spokesperson in response to questions DW.

Creative solutions from Framatome

Formally, the Russians do not have access to the plant in Lingen, where fuel assemblies for Western reactors are currently produced. As Ausgestrahlt activists found out after conducting their own investigation, ANF brought to Lingen in the summer without waiting for an official production permit  of Russian assemblies, equipment for personnel training outside the territory of the plant. For this purpose, a warehouse in Lingen's industrial zone was rented, the activists established. Responding to the request of journalists from the NDR television and radio company, Framatome confirmed the information of the activists, noting that the premises “were testing equipment that will be needed in the future in production”.

Critics emphasize that by non-public cooperation with the Russians, without waiting for permission from the authorities, the French are further undermining public trust in the project. As DW found out, after analyzing the database of the Russian customs, available through the Importgenius service, the equipment for the production of fuel assemblies was not supplied directly to the ANF company from Lingen, which is still waiting in vain for permission, but through France. In November 2023, TVEL's “daughter” – Mashinostroitelny zavod JSC – delivered equipment intended for the production site in Lingen to the Framatome plant in the city of Jemont, which is the closest branch of the French concern outside Germany to Lingen. In addition to the question of how the equipment for the project, which does not have a state permit, got to Germany, critics of the project wonder whether the Russian specialists worked in Lingen legally – with a work visa? At the city hall, responding to DW's request, noted that they “were not involved in the relevant (visa – Ed.) procedures”.

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A sweet piece of the market: 19 reactors in the EU

In Lingen, Advanced Nuclear Fuels GmbH produces fuel assemblies for reactors in Western countries. Unlike Russian fuel assemblies, they are square, not hexagonal. Hexagonal assemblies are used in VVER reactors developed by Rosatom. Such reactors are in operation in five EU countries – Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Finland, Hungary and Slovakia. “These countries are dependent on Russia for nuclear fuel supplies and need a reliable, safe and ready-to-use alternative as soon as possible,” a Framatome spokesman said in response to a DW query. According to him, operators of VVER reactors in EU countries themselves asked Framatome to “join the development of a sovereign European nuclear fuel solution in order to avoid disruptions to the supply of critical services and reduce dependence on imports from outside the EU.”

There are 19 VVER reactors operating in the EU. In order to offer an alternative to fuel assemblies from Russia, the Swedish-American manufacturer Westinghouse has been developing hexagonal fuel assemblies for many years without cooperation with the Russians, which are already used at Ukrainian nuclear power plants and have recently been tested in Finland. It is expected that by the end of 2024, Westinghouse fuel will be loaded into VVER reactors for the first time in the Czech Republic, and in the next few years in Slovakia and Bulgaria. Of all the EU countries where VVER reactors operate, only Hungary has not yet signed fuel supply contracts with Westinghouse and continues to purchase exclusively Russian fuel assemblies.

Framatome's illusory diversification?

Meanwhile, Framatome is trying to jump on the bandwagon: in recent months, the French have signed contracts to supply nuclear fuel to nuclear power plants in Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Bulgaria and Hungary starting in 2027. Thus, competition is emerging on the European market for fuel for VVER reactors, which could provide nuclear power plant operators with more favorable prices. The only problem is that without cooperation with Rosatom, the French have nothing to supply yet. Framatome promises to develop its own fuel for VVER reactors “in the medium term.”

To call it a “diversification” of supplies, the tongue does not turn back, criticized Daria Dolzhikova, an expert of the British think tank on security issues RUSI, in a conversation with DW. “Diversification in the nuclear fuel market should focus on the development of alternative fuel for VVER-type reactors, which would not depend on Russian components or the participation of Rosatom. As long as the Russian company is involved in the fuel production process, I would not call it diversification,” the expert emphasizes on nuclear energy issues. Dolzhikova states that at this stage Framatome is dependent on Rosatom in the matter of the fuel program for VVER reactors. “It is critically important that Rosatom's presence in nuclear supply chains be as transparent as possible if these countries that claim to support Ukraine really want to get rid of their dependence on Rosatom, a company that is complicit in Russia's invasion of Ukraine,” he notes. Daria Dolzhikova. The expert adds that not all countries are really interested in getting rid of dependence on Russia. 

An application that has been under consideration for years

Framatome's “subsidiary” applied for permission from German state authorities to produce fuel assemblies under TVEL's license in March 2022 – a few weeks after Russia's large-scale invasion of Ukraine. Licensed production of Russian assemblies would give Framatome an advantage over Westinghouse in the competition for the VVER reactor niche. After all, assemblies of Western development require many years of testing before they receive safety certificates. On the other hand, licensed copies of Russian TVELs produced in Lingen will not need this procedure.

However, this advantage is offset by the uncertainty regarding permission from the German authorities. “It is not yet possible to estimate the time spent on the inspection by the federal supervisory authorities,” the German Federal Environment Ministry, which will make the final decision on the permit, told DW. “There is no time frame for making such a decision,” the agency added. A preliminary decision will be made by the Ministry of Mineology of Lower Saxony, where the plant is located, after public hearings on November 20.